Nicolette DuClare is a character in the computer game Deus Ex and its sequel Deus Ex: Invisible War. Although a relatively minor character in the original game, Nicolette later becomes a major character in Invisible War. She is voiced by Ellen Loci in both games.
Background
Early life
Nicolette is the daughter of the late Illuminatus, Elizabeth DuClare. During her life she attended the Collège de Sorbonne. After her mother is assassinated by Majestic 12 while trying to save her, Nicolette assumes control of Beth's activities and assets. With her mother's considerable amassed fortune and Illuminati contacts, she collaborates with alleged terrorist group, Silhouette, by providing financial support and strategic intelligence to help the largely propaganda-based group avoid open conflict with Majestic 12's elite military forces. Nicolette appears apathetic and uninterested in the clandestine war being fought across the globe by Majestic 12 and its myriad of international opposing forces. Her continued assistance is almost certainly due to her relationship with Silhouette leader, Chad Dumier, and fierce hatred towards Majestic 12 for usurping power from and subsequently murdering her mother.
2052
| "As the only child and heir of Illuminati diva Beth DuClare, Nicolette was born with a platinum spoon in her mouth. Her father's identity is a bit of a mystery... all sorts of rumors abound. The most interesting of these suggests that Nicolette was born without male intervention, a direct clone of her mother with only minor cosmetic alterations. Nicolette inherited her mother's independent spirit, and Beth was not the sort to suffer rebellion gladly, which made for a contentious adolescence and young adulthood. In college, Nicolette hooked up with a nascent band of subversives led by the young political philosopher Chad, and simply by recounting a few overhead conversations of her mother's she provided all the motivation necessary to create the organization Silhouette. However, probably due to her mother's friends and contacts, Nicolette managed to get out of the organization before it became the prime target of international law enforcement. She retreated to the aimless, but surprisingly anonymous, refuge of Paris high society." | ||||
| — description of Nicolette DuClare, Deus Ex | ||||
In his quest to meet the Illuminati leader, Morgan Everett, JC Denton searches for Nicolette after Chad Dumier informs him that Nicolette is his best bet of contacting Everett. At the Club La Porte de l'Enfer, in Paris, JC finds Nicolette in a corner of the club's upper level, and asks her (not knowing who she is) to contact Nicolette for him. Assured that JC is not an MJ12 agent, Nicolette meets JC behind the club and reveals her identity.
Nicolette then takes JC to her mother's Chateau outside of Paris to find her mother's computer, through which JC can contact Everett. She leads JC to certain locations, including her mother's bedroom, to find clues as to where her mother's computer is hidden. Eventually, JC finds the secret basement where Beth's computer lab is hidden. Nicolette follows JC as long as he is in the chateau. After JC contacts Everett and leaves the chateau, Nicolette does not reappear in the remainder of the game.
2072
Nicolette DuClare as Her Holiness in 2072
| "Her true identity hidden behind the guise of “Her Holiness.” The Order’s supreme spiritual leader knows that no civilization can stand without both order within the citizen and order outside the citizen in his relations with others. In attempting to unify the world’s religions, she has zeroed in on those universal principles that equip an individual to live in harmony with others and at peace with himself. She has written her own meditation exercises based on the Buddhist cetasikas, or “qualities of mind.” She has also borrowed from Islam and the Hindu religion, careful at every turn to draw a practical lesson from the symbolism she uses. Thanks to the church’s high ideals and good deeds, post-Collapse citizens welcome the new faith, even if they do not all become believers. Even so, there are those who believe that Her Holiness is merely a well-crafted public persona, behind which lurks a very ordinary woman with, perhaps, less than pure intentions." | ||||
| — description of Her Holiness, Deus Ex: Invisible War | ||||
Although she originally rejected her mother's Illuminati philosophies, Nicolette was affected deeply by the events of the Great Collapse, and would use her mother's Illuminati connections to join and eventually gain control of the organization with her lover, Dumier. The two plotted to reshape the world in the wake of the chaos, and possibly to take control of the world on the best way experience has taught them, through social division, caused by the Collapse. Nicolette founded the Order Church to serve as the antithesis of the World Trade Organization created by Chad, and became known as "Her Holiness". With the members of the two organizations fighting each other, Nicolette and Dumier manage to control them to a surprisingly high degree. When Alex Denton travels to Trier, Germany, he learns that Nicolette was taken hostage by the Knights Templar at the Black Gate Ruins. After he rescues Nicolette, he encounters Dumier, at which point Nicolette reveals her identity, and the Illuminati along with Dumier. From that point on, Nicolette openly assists Dumier in his actions, and tries to convince Alex to side with the Illuminati. If Alex refuses in the endgame at Liberty Island, Nicolette does not hesitate to kill him.
Trivia
- At least 2 e-mail messages in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, in the Picus Newsroom, were apparently sent from Nicolette to Keith Lighter and Michael Wells. This is, most likely, a mistake by the game's developers, as Nicolette was 17 years of age in the original Deus Ex, according to the Deus Ex Bible, thus making her birth year 2035, 8 years after the events of Human Revolution. It is possible that there is another woman in the DuClare family named Nicolette, but she was most likely mistaken for her mother, Elizabeth DuClare, who would have been active in the Illuminati during this period.
Gallery
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